Something on My Table

Today is Day 2 of My Life. In Pictures. and the assignment is to get a picture of something on my table. So here it is...

This is a picture of a meal that we had last week. It seemed pretty ordinary until I started thinking about how much time really went into it. The hamburger is from the first 2 steers we got the August after Morgan was born. Rich raised them from bottle fed calves to full grown steers. He fed and watered them twice a day. The hay that helped feed them was what Rich and his Grandpa harvested from our little field. He kept them bedded and made sure to clean out their pen by a pitchfork and wheelbarrow at least twice while they were here. All that work was so I could have the hamburger on my plate.

The green beans were also home grown. We planted them in our garden last summer. We kept them watered and weeded. When they were ready, we picked, cut and cleaned them. Then, along with several beans from Rich's grandma (since we didn't have enough), we canned them...90 pints of them. The green beans on my plate also took a lot of time and work.

The fries were not as much work, since the potatoes that made them were store bought. We've grown our own potatoes before, but decided not to last year. These fries were still special and took some extra time, since they were homemade. :-) (They were delicious too!)

So, as I made this meal last week, I realized that it was a special meal that was deserving of a picture to be posted as part of My Life. In Pictures. Besides that, the only other thing on my table is a pile of papers that I need to go through...not quite as picture worthy! LOL!

If you would like to participate as well, just head over to Everthing Except the Grill and check it out!

Make Something Monday: Nighty-Night Cookies

I grew up with my Mom making some delicious melt-in-your-mouth cookies from the egg whites she had left over after making noodles. I had never made them before, but every time I thought about them, my mouth would start watering and I would think "I have to try making those one of these days". Well, a couple weeks ago, I saw a recipe for 'Chocolate Forgotten Cookies' on Boston Mamas and they were almost the exact same cookies as I had growing up, except we called them 'Nighty-Night Cookies'. I figured since I had the recipe, I might as well stop putting off making them and give it a try, so here is the recipe:

Nighty-Night Cookies (Chocolate Forgotten Cookies)

• 2 egg whites
• Pinch of cream of tartar
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 6 oz. (1/2 bag) chocolate chips
  

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place egg whites and cream of tartar in the SCRUPULOUSLY clean and dry mixing bowl of a standing mixer with a balloon whisk. (You can also use a hand mixer but it may take longer.) Beat at high speed until egg whites foam and start to get shiny, then sprinkle in sugar v-e-r-y slowly as beaters continue. Add vanilla extract, and beat until stiff peaks form. Meringue should be glossy and firm. Gently fold in 6 oz. (1/2 bag) chocolate chips.
3. Drop large tablespoons of batter on a foil-lined baking sheet. Place all cookies in the oven at once and turn oven off. DO NOT OPEN OVEN DOOR until morning or until oven has completely cooled (hence, "Forgotten"). I recommend starting this recipe after dinner the night before you need the cookies.
4. Keep in a tightly covered plastic container; separate layers with sheets of waxed paper.

And this is how they turned out!

I think they turned out better than I remember them. They must have, because I scarfed them down! (Seriously-they were done in the morning and gone the same night!) If you have never had these cookies before, I would highly recommend trying them! They turn out the best if there isn't a lot of humidity in the air. (I actually chose a cold dry night to make them.) Boston Mamas actually has a variation on the recipe as well, if you would like to head over there and check it out! :-)

For more Make Something Monday, check out Go Graham Go! and Jolly Mom.

Something New

I was invited by Amber from Everything Except the Grill to participate in a little Photo Challenge she is starting called My Life. In Pictures. Here is what she had to say about why she started it:

"The purpose of this photo challenge project is to encourage you to pick up your camera and start capturing details of your life. This project should also serve as a way to look at what others are finding to shoot and will hopefully keep you inspired to look for more moments in your life you wouldn't always think to capture with your camera."

The challenge runs from today through the end of the week and here is the schedule:

• Monday- Something new
• Tuesday- Something on your table
• Wednesday- The view from your front door
• Thursday- Something you do each day
• Friday- Something old

I am not a photographer by any means, but I love to take pictures, so I have really had fun with this challenge so far. I hope to participate every day and if you would like to as well, just head over to Everthing Except the Grill and check it out! Here is Monday's assignment:

Something New: Tulips

These are my tulips right now. I can't wait until they bloom and I can see the beautiful pink pastels and creams. I love tulips and I think these are my favorite! :-)

A Dream Swing Set

We were fortunate to be given an old swing set a couple years ago for our kids to play on. It was our neighbors' daughter's swing set that she had outgrown and they were just going to toss it if we didn't want it. It works for us for now, but it isn't exactly what I had dreamed of as a swing set for the kids...with it being kind of rusty...and maybe not the safest.


Now this is the type of swing set that I dream to have for my kids! Not only does it look safe and rust free, but it has everything! In addition to the swings, it has a slide, a climbing wall, a deck and a whole lot more! Morgan and Blake would have a blast with this! The really neat thing is, I could actually win this Kid's Creations swing set for them over at Dad Blogs along with a Canon PowerShot SD1100 Digital Elph camera to take pictures of them enjoying it! :-) So can you! (If I don't win of course-LOL!) Just head on over to Dad Blogs and check out the rules!

Side Effect of Humming Blake to Sleep

This was videotaped just before Blake turned one year old. I had always hummed to Blake before laying him down to sleep, so he got very used to that as his bedtime routine. Turns out that the routine ended up having some side effects. Here's what happened when we hummed to Blake any other time but bedtime...

Please ignore both Rich and my vocal skills-we don't have any! LOL!

Wordless Wednesday: Two Little Pigs

The other day, Morgan was going through her hair supplies and pulled out 2 rubber bands and asked for pigtails. Morgan hasn't had pigtails in months! There was no way I would have ever expected her to even remember what they were! Heck, I forgot how cute she looks in them otherwise I would have been putting her in them! LOL!:-)

For more Wordless Wednesday, check out 5 Minutes for Mom, Go Graham Go! and Healthy Moms.

Our New Computer

Before I tell you how the computer is working out, I wanted to show some before and after pictures of my desk:

Before:

After:

It's big, isn't it? LOL!

If you caught my last post about the new computer, Computer Anticipation, you know about my old computer and what I was looking forward to with this new one. It's been about a week and a half, now, since we got our new computer and here is a list of my 'new computer' discoveries so far:

• The new computer actually has 6 USB ports! My old computer had 1 USB port, so every time I went to do a video call with my parents in Germany, I had to unplug the printer and plug in the webcam. Not a big deal, but it tended to get annoying when I'd go to print something afterwards. I'd sit there waiting, wondering why it wasn't working and I had forgot to switch the cables back around. LOL! (By the way, I can actually talk through the webcam now too, since the computer runs faster. I used to have to type what I wanted to say, because my parents could never tell what I was saying.)
• The new computer has a CD burner! I used to take my memory sticks to my parents (when they were home) to have them put the pictures on CD's. Since they've been gone, Rich will stay after work and put my pictures to CD's on his computer there. Now I can do it right here at home. At least I will be able to when I figure it all out. LOL!
• The new computer has enough space to actually put my videos on it! I haven't figured out all the video stuff yet, but I was able to post a video to my blog last week! I'm hoping to put up more videos in the future and hopefully organize all my little discs and put them on big discs. I would really like them to play in the DVD player, so I can watch them on TV, but that hasn't worked yet. We'll figure it out sooner or later. (Hopefully we'll figure out why we can't get sound from our videos through the computer too?)
• The new computer has a program called Windows Movie Maker that I was able to play around with a little last night. I don't actually have a movie that I want to make right now, but it would be fun to figure it out if I ever do want to. It was very exciting last night! LOL!
• This new computer is fast! We've had a fairly high speed internet, but with the old computer we always had a bit of a wait. With this computer, I can jump from page to page almost instantly! Well, it seems like it's instantly compared to the old computer :-)
• Rich introduced me to Microsoft Outlook's calendar on this computer. I'm hoping to use it as a planner and get myself more organized, but I'm not sure that I'll be able to get away from paper for that. I'm sure it will just take some getting used to. :-)

I'm sure there is some stuff I forgot to mention and there is definitely a lot more to discover! It's been frustrating at times trying to figure everything out, but in the end it has been very fun and exciting! I can't wait to see what else this computer can do and what else I can do using it! :-)

Make Something Monday: Creamy Beef Fold-Over Pie

This is a recipe that I tried after seeing it on Alexis AKA Mom's blog Running Away? I'll help you pack and I wanted to share it as well!

Creamy Beef Fold-Over Pie

• 1 lb lean (at least 80%) ground beef
• 1 small onion, chopped (1/4 cup)
• 1 can (10-3/4 oz) condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1-1/2 cups Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers forzen mixed vegetables, thawed, drained
• 1 Tablespoon ketchup
• 2 cups Original Bisquick mix
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 1/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (1 oz.)

1. Move oven rack to lowest position; heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray 12-inch pizza pan with cooking spray. In 10-inch skillet, cook beef and onion over medium-high heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until cooked thoroughly; drain.
2. Stir soup, vegetables and ketchup into beef mixture. Cook 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until heated through.
3. Meanwhile, in medium bowl, stir Bisquick mis and boiling water until soft dough forms. On surface sprinkled with Bisquick mix, gently roll to coat with mix. Shape dough into a ball; knead about 5 times or until smooth. Roll dough into 14-inch round; place on pizza pan.
4. Spoon beef mixture over dough to within 2 inches of edge. Fold edge of dough up over beef mixture.
5. Bake 24 to 27 minutes or until crust is golden brown. top with cheese. Bake 3 to 4 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting.

Rich and I loved this! I will probably be making it again soon, because Rich couldn't seem to get enough of it-LOL! The kids, on the other hand, were not fond of the veggies in there meal and did not care to eat it. I thought the vegetables were hidden fairly well, too! As I told Alexis, I'll have to grind up the veggies next time, so they blend in better-LOL!

For more Make Something Monday, check out Go Graham Go! and Jolly Mom. Also be sure to stop by Running Away? I'll help you pack. Alexis AKA Mom has a yummy recipe for Corned Beef & Cabbage that she made for St. Patrick's Day this year. :-)

5 Minutes for Mom's Ultimate Blog Party

5 Minutes for Mom's Ultimate Blog Party has started! It runs from March 20th through 27th. This is my first time participating in it, but it sounds and looks like it is going to be fun! (You should see the yummy cupcakes and cake they have!) :-) The party is all about meeting new blogging friends, but they also have some wonderful prizes to share.

Here are my top 3 picks from the list of prizes:
1. A $50 Gift Card to Target from Agoosa.
2. An Ergo Baby Carrier from A Giveaway Addicted Mommy.
3. A $100 Gift Card to A Rocking Horse to Love or Pedal Cars and Retro Collectibles from 5 Minutes for Mom.

If I am not able to receive any of those, I would love to win any of the following in no particular order (except how they are listed-LOL!): #19, #26, #41, #49, #50, #70, #72, #76, #85, #91, #88, #95, #99, #106, #122, #123, #125 and #130

Stop on by 5 Minutes for Mom and join in on the fun! I'm really looking forward to a whole week of partying! ;-)

And now for a little about me for those of you who are stopping by for the first time! I'm a stay-at-home mom of my daughter, Morgan, and son, Blake. I have been married to my wonderful husband, Rich, for a little over 3 years now. We live in a little old farmhouse on 5 acres and have 2 steers, a dog, Bear, and 2 cats (plus a cat that is boarding for a while and a couple strays! LOL!) I love my family, Jesus, baking, blogging, veggie gardening and list goes on! (Sorry this is quick, but I didn't know I was suppose to blog about me until after I already posted and signed Mr. Linky! Makes sense, though! LOL!) Here are a few of my favorite pics:

Thanks for stopping by!

Canned Goods for the Kids' Kitchen

I received a really neat Pampered Chef can opener for my birthday this year. It opens the can by cutting the side and doesn't leave any sharp edges! After receiving it, I couldn't wait to try it out and see how it worked. It took a little getting used to, but I finally figured it out and it works wonderfully! I love it! So, of course, I had to save the can and show Rich how great the new can opener works. When I showed it to him, the first thing he said was I could wash the can out, glue it back together and let the kids play with it in their kitchen. I think Rich even surprised himself with how creative he was! LOL! So, here's how it worked out:

Here is my nifty new can opener.

This is how you hold the can opener to the can.

If you look real close at the top rim, you can see where the can opener cuts the can. (Sorry-I had already glued it back together when I took these pics, so you can't see what it looks like opened up.)

This is how the kids' new canned good looks in their tiny little kitchen. :-)

The kids loved having their own canned food for their kitchen! As I use more cans of different foods, I hope to get more variety in the play kitchen. Since I love the can opener so much, I'll probably end up having to get them a bigger kitchen to hold all their new food! :-) Now, if only that would work for me to get a bigger kitchen...LOL!

My Little Gymnast

I decided to be brave and post this. My hair is not done, nor is my make-up, and I have a goofy laugh goin' on. Plus, I am wearing my everyday jeans that are super baggy after losing weight, but I'm too cheap to wear the ones that fit, since I don't want to wear them out! LOL! It's pretty obvious by the way I look that I never intended this video to go online, but I just couldn't resist posting my cute little guy doing his flips. So, please ignore me and concentrate on Blake! :-P

In case you are wondering what Blake is doing with his fingers, I'm pretty sure he is trying to tickle my face :-)

Finger Painting with Chocolate Pudding!

I came across an activity to do with Morgan and Blake, in the Wiggle Giggle Learn program, that was finger painting with chocolate pudding. It sounded like a lot of fun, but I did not have any chocolate pudding in the house and had to make it from scratch.

It took me an hour of constant stirring to make and it never boiled on 'low' like it was suppose to, but still turned out okay. The kids sure had fun with it...

Since the 'paint' was chocolate pudding, they had to taste it first-of course! :-)

Then Morgan started painting.

After eating quite a bit of pudding, Blake decided he would also like to try painting...

.,..but decided that eating the 'paint' was a lot more satisfying. LOL!

This was definitely a worth while activity for the kids. (Though I will plan ahead and buy the pudding next time! LOL!) Morgan loved being able to paint for a while, then lick her fingers clean, then go back to painting again. In her little eyes, it was the best activity ever! Blake just loved eating it, which was great! (Better to eat the pudding paint than real finger paints! LOL!) I even had fun sneaking aside and grabbing my own bowl of 'paint' to eat. ;-)

Wordless Wednesday: Bathtime Fun

For more Wordless Wednesday, check out 5 Minutes for Mom, Go Graham Go! and Healthy Moms.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick's Day doesn't seem to be much of a holiday to celebrate unless you like drinking green beer. I always try to at least wear something green and since Morgan has been with us, we've always made it to the local St. Patrick's Day parade. This year, on top of wearing green and watching a parade, I decided to have a little more fun this Irish holiday!

Rich, Morgan, Blake and I went to the local parade on Saturday. We have made it a tradition to do our grocery shopping before the parade and we make sure to pick up plenty of snacks! We then get to the parade early and park right on the main street and snack on our goodies (including the green frosted Lofthouse sugar cookies-yum!) and wait for the parade to start. (It's usually so cold that we don't want to wait outside, but this year it was fairly nice!) Rich's brother happened to be a couple blocks away, so he came and watched the parade with us this year. Morgan had a blast! She waved to everyone, picked up every last piece of candy and collected all the green beaded necklaces that were being handed out. She was all smiles the whole time! Beyond the parade, I decided to make some Irish food after seeing the recipes on education.com. Rich and I have made corned beef sandwich's in the past, but this year I made a Shepherd's Pie. I switched up a couple ingredients, like making homemade mashed potatoes and using some frozen mixed vegetables instead of frozen peas, but it still turned out great!


I also made some Irish Soda Bread for the first time. I love to bake, but this is one baked good I had never tried before. It turned out great and is actually almost gone (after 2 days!) I don't like raisins in baked goods and I still thought it was delicious!

Beyond all that, I also wanted an activity that I could do with the kids. I came up with making some green play dough for them to play with. We used shamrock cookie cutters to make some green shamrocks and I also got a little creative by making three play dough worms then spiraling them, so they were like the leaves. I then put them together and added a stem. All our little shamrocks turned out super cute and the kids had a blast! Morgan could play with play dough for hours! (She seriously sat and played with it for 2 hours straight once. I thought that was pretty good for an almost 3 year old!)

I had a great time doing a little extra for the St. Patrick's Day this year and I think Rich and the kids did too! I hope to make it tradition for the years to come! :-)
If you would like to try any of the recipes, just follow the links. Have a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Make Something Monday: Pizza Quiche

This quiche is probably my last experiment with quiche for a while, but I was curious what it would be like and I had to try it! :-)

Pizza Quiche

• 1 pastry shell
• 1/4 cup pizza sauce
• 1/8 cup pepperoni, divided
• 1/8 cup chopped green pepper
• 1/8 cup chopped onion
• 1/8 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

Line unpricked pastry shells with a double thickness of heavy-duty foil. Bake at 400 degrees for 5 minutes. Remove foil; bake 5 minutes longer.

Spread pizza sauce in the bottom of the pastry shell. Place pepperoni (except for about 7), green pepper, onion, mushroom and cheese on top of the pizza sauce. In a bowl, whisk eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Pour into shell. Sprinkle garlic salt over top of quiche. Place remaining pepperoni on top as well. Cover edges with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand 5-10 minutes before cutting. Yield: 6 servings.

I really like how this turned out! I used what we had for pizza toppings to put in this quiche, but you could use whatever you wanted! Rich said he'd prefer to have real pizza, but I had fun being creative anyway ;-)

For more Make Something Monday, check out Go Graham Go!

Computer Anticipation

I received an e-mail on Wednesday from Dell saying that our computer we ordered had been shipped and is due to arrive today! I can't believe that we are actually going to have a new computer! I haven't had a new computer since I started college in August of 2000 and Rich has never had his own computer, so this is really exciting! (Yes, this little laptop I use is 9 years old! I am amazed each morning, when I start it up, that it is still running! LOL!)

We ordered the computer a few weeks ago when Dell was having a 2 day sale. I was mostly interested in getting another small computer. Not a laptop, but a desktop that didn't take up a lot of space. I thought Rich had the same ideas as I did on the computer, because he had never said otherwise, but it turns out that I was wrong! I really don't know the dimensions of it, but the monitor is 22 inches, which is nearly double the size of my laptop screen! (I really hope it fits on my already crowded little desk! LOL!)

So, not only is this computer going to be big, but it's going to have memory space! Memory space is something that I'm not used to with this little laptop. I haven't been able to get new programs, run the programs that are already on here or even upload pictures at times, because this computer is so full! This new computer is going to allow for me to actually store pictures, plus burn my pictures to CD's, use picture editing programs...the possibilities seem endless! Plus, since it is a small business computer, Rich will be able to use it if he decides to start his own surveying business. (That's if I ever let him on it-LOL!)

If you can't tell, I'm really looking forward to this computer. The UPS guy doesn't usually come until 4:00 pm, so I have a little while to wait. Then I'm going to have to wait until we can get it all set up and ready to roll, but it's almost here! The excitement and anticipation are definitely mounting! I'll have to do another post next week with some before and after pictures of my desk and let everyone know how the new computer is working for us. Now for something to keep me busy until this afternoon...LOL! :-)

Button Board Activity

I tried another preschool activity with Morgan from education.com. I made her a button board, but it didn't work quite how it was suppose to...
I was suppose to be able to ask Morgan to make shapes by wrapping the string around the buttons or have her wrap the string around a certain number of buttons, but the best she could do was make a line with the string. I think she is probably still a little young for the activity, since it was even hard for me to keep the string from slipping off the buttons! LOL!
I did figure out how I could make it work for her, though. I ended up making a shape with the string and she would tell me what shape it was and then count the buttons inside it. It turned out to be a lot of fun even though it didn't go as planned. :-)

If you would like to try some new activities or worksheets with your kiddos, just head on over to education.com for some fun ideas!

Wordless Wednesday: New Use for a Dump Truck

For more Wordless Wednesday, check out 5 Minutes for Mom, Go Graham Go! and Healthy Moms.

Frankenmuth

Rich and I had a wonderful time in Frankenmuth this past weekend. Friday was beautiful! We were able to walk around town without our coats on and enjoy the sunshine and warmer weather. We went to the River Place first and got some popcorn at the Popcorn Wagon. Rich picked up some Spicy BBQ popcorn and I went for the milder Sour Cream and Chive popcorn. Both of them were delicious! We also went to a fudge shop and got this huge cashew turtle type thing. I think it was around 6 inches in diameter, an inch tall and it weighed a half a pound! We also picked up some German Almonds while there. Both were very yummy! :-)

After the River Place, we went wine tasting at St. Julian Winery. We each tried 6 wines and then bought a Passionate Peach Spumante and a wine called "Sholom". Both are very delicious and sweet wines. I could have bought every wine we tasted, though! They have some really good ones there :-)

We then checked into the hotel and did a little meandering down the main street. We stopped in all sorts of little shops and then, since the Frankenmuth Brewery was closed (so no soft pretzels and horseradish mustard butter), we went to the Black Forest Brewery for dinner. (In a German inspired town-you have to have wine and beer-it's a must! LOL!) I am really happy with our restaurant choice for that night. We had a really fun waitress and wonderful food! (I had a chicken club sandwich on a pretzel bun that was very good!)

Saturday morning Rich woke up way too early! He woke up at 5:00 am and since there was no way I was getting up that early when I didn't have to, I went back to sleep. Rich went and worked out for an hour, came back and showered. I still wasn't up, so then he went for a 45 minute walk through Frankenmuth. I still wasn't up, so then he went to breakfast. I finally woke up around 8:00 am and we just hung out and watched movies until we had to check out. We had seen most of what we wanted to in Frankenmuth and just wanted to take it easy.

When we checked out of the hotel around 11:00 am, we went to the Cheese Haus and got some Dill cheese curds and a little container of horseradish cheese spread-delicious! Then, since Rich had finished his popcorn, we went back to the Popcorn Wagon to get some more Spicy BBQ, so he could have some to bring home. We also checked out a few more shops before meeting up with my sister and her boyfriend for lunch at the Bavarian Inn Restaurant. We each got the all-you-can-eat family style chicken dinners. Rich didn't realize that it was 'all-you-can-eat' at first, but when he did, we ended up ordering more food like crazy! We got thirds of both the noodles and the potatoes, plus seconds of the chicken. Rich was determined to eat until it hurt, since it cost us $19.99 per person! LOL!

After lunch, we tried walking off all the food we ate until it started raining us, so we headed for home. Rich and I really had a great time on our little getaway! We were able to do almost everything that we planned while there. We came back feeling closer as a couple and very relaxed (plus a little bloated-lol!) We can't wait to do it again, even if it is another 3-1/2 years. :-)

Make Something Monday: Cinnamon Biscuits

This recipe is something that I made several times while I was pregnant with Morgan, but haven't thought to make since. I was getting a little tired of chocolate baked goods the other day and wanted to make something with cinnamon when I remembered these:

Cinnamon Biscuits:

• 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 8 Tablespoons (1 stick) butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup milk, optional

1. Combine flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl and mix well. Stir in vegetable oil. Add buttermilk and stir until blended.
2. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Roll dough into a 15x8-inch rectangle.
3. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 9-inch round baking pan lightly.
4. Spread butter over the dough. Combine granulated sugar and cinnamon in small bowl and mix well. Sprinkle over butter. Roll up rectangle, jelly roll fashion, starting from one side. Pinch along seam to seal.
5. Cut the roll into 1-1/2-inch slices. Arrange the slices, cute side up, in prepared baking pan. Bake until lightly browned, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven. Pour milk over the top if desired. Serve hot.
   

I like to make a powder sugar and water glaze to over top. (I've never tried them with the optional milk.) Without the glaze, the biscuits are 270 calories each, so not the best for you, but I think they are delicious! :-)

For more Make Something Monday, check out Go Graham Go!

A Little Getaway

So today Rich and I are headed out for a little getaway. We just need to finish packing then drop the kids off at their grandparents and we'll be on our way to the little German inspired town of Frankenmuth, MI. I'm excited to do some wine tasting at St. Julian's, get some yummy cheese spread at the Cheese Haus and pick up a couple sample size bags of flavored popcorn at the Popcorn Wagon.

The whole trip isn't just about the snack food, though. I'm also excited to eat at the Frankenmuth Brewery (if it's open) and the Bavarian Inn, too! The Frankenmuth Brewery has a tasty appetizer of soft pretzels and horseradish mustard butter that I have been craving since we planned this getaway! (It may sound gross, but it's really good!) And the Bavarian Inn has some wonderful chicken dinners that, apparently are not really German at all. (Thank you to the German guys sitting next to me on the plane ride home from Germany for that bit of info.) Though not truly 'Bavarian', the dinners are still quite good and are a big draw to Frankenmuth.

Really, the trip isn't about food at all, though it is an added bonus! Rich and I really just need a little getaway for the two of us. We haven't gotten away together since before the kids came, so this is a much needed break! I'm looking forward to just going and having a good time without worrying about the house, the kids, work (in Rich's case), etc. (I'll probably still worry about how much we spend, but that's just me, so I can't help that one! LOL! ) So, we'll be back tomorrow afternoon/evening hopefully rejuvenated and most likely with a couple of very full tummies! :-)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Name Puzzle

I was introduced to education.com by another blog (sorry I don't remember which one) quite a while ago. I ended up adding it to my favorites so I could try the activities with Morgan, and eventually Blake, when they were old enough. I had forgotten about the site until a couple weeks ago when I spotted it while browsing through my favorites. I decided that Morgan is getting to the age where she could do Preschool activities and wanted to start doing some of them with her. So the first one we did was the Name Puzzle. Here are a few pics:

This is the template, the puzzle and the storage envelope (so we can keep it and work on it occasionally.)

Morgan putting her name puzzle together. You can see she that she is saying the letter "G".

The finished puzzle (with a little help from Mommy).

I like that the Name Puzzle not only helps Morgan recognize her name, but she is also working at learning the letters. It is just a great learning activity for her and it was so simple to make! If you would also like to try the Name Puzzle, or other activities for your child's age, just head on over to education.com and check it out!

Wordless Wednesday: Rough Day

Blake wasn't feeling very good on Saturday. He didn't care to eat or play and just wanted to be held. This is how he ended up falling asleep over an hour before his usual bedtime.


For more Wordless Wednesday, check out 5 Minutes for Mom, Go Graham Go! and Healthy Moms.

Awaiting Spring

Kristin at An Ordinary Life is having a photo contest to win one of three Seagate FreeAgent Go hard drives. All you have to do is post a Spring picture of your little ones on your blog. Since it is still 15 degrees here with snow on the ground, I'm posting a picture from last Spring. (Actually, I think I jumped the gun on Spring in this picture, because the kiddos still look like they were a little on the cold side!)

This was Morgan and Blake's first wagon ride together last Spring.

It was fun going back and seeing how much they have changed in just a year. (I forgot how little hair Morgan had! LOL!) If you want a chance to win a FreeAgent Go, just head on over to An Ordinary Life and see how easy it is to enter. :-)

A Giveaway at The Mommy Rambles!

Alexia at The Mommy Rambles has a great giveaway going on right now to win a $20 gift certificate to Stork Snapshots. Stork Snapshots is a great place in the Chicago area for spa services and 2D, 3D & 4D ultrasounds when you're expecting. They also have a cute little online shop with unique baby items, which is where that $20 gift card would come in handy for those of us who do not live near Chicago :-) If I were to win the $20 gift card, I would get one of the following shirts for Morgan:
Cute right? Head on over to The Mommy Rambles to learn more about Stork Snapshots and how you can enter to win the $20 gift card that's up for grabs! :-)

Make Something Monday: Taco Quiche

I had some leftover taco meat and cheese and I was feeling a little creative after making my first quiche a couple weeks back. I came up with the following recipe with my leftovers.

Taco Quiche

• 1 pastry shell
• 1 cup taco meat
• 1 cup taco/Mexican cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup salsa
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon onion salt

Line unpricked pastry shells with a double thickness of heavy-duty foil. Bake at 400 degrees for 5 minutes. Remove foil; bake 5 minutes longer.

Place taco meat, cheese and onion in the bottom of the pastry shell. In a bowl, whisk eggs, salsa, milk, salt and pepper. Pour into shell. Sprinkle onion salt over top of quiche. Cover edges with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand 5-10 minutes before cutting. Yield: 6 servings.
It came out pretty good for an experiment! I ended up putting more salsa on top to add a little more flavor. Actually, almost anything that you would put in a taco could be added in or on the quiche. (I would not recommend putting lettuce 'in' the quiche, though-LOL!)

For more Make Something Monday, check out Go Graham Go!